Enhanced’ G-20 welcome planned at airport

Tuesday

Jun 30, 2009 at 12:01 AM

By Tom Fontaine, Times Staff

FINDLAY TWP. — Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said Tuesday that plans were under way to create an “enhanced welcome center” at Pittsburgh International Airport for the upcoming G-20 economic summit.

But the plans are still very much a work in progress.

“We certainly do plan to have an enhanced presence at the airport, but we don’t have a plan for that yet. We’re probably a week away from knowing what we’re going to do,” said Beverly Morrow-Jones, executive director of VisitPittsburgh, which has a welcome center at the airport’s landside terminal baggage-claim area.

Kevin Evanto, an Onorato spokesman, offered a few more details.

“The idea is to expand what exists at the welcome center in its current form, and really gear it more toward the media coming to town,” Evanto said. More than 3,000 reporters are expected to flock to the region for the Sept. 24-25 summit.

Evanto said the welcome center probably will be staffed with extra volunteers who can provide media briefing packets to reporters that contain story ideas, information on the downtown area, regional contacts and other information.

Airport spokesman Jeff Martinelli said the airport is still working on plans to greet those expected to pass through the airport en route to the summit in downtown Pittsburgh.

Among other things, the airport is trying to beef up its Airport Ambassador program.

There are currently 70 volunteer ambassadors, who help greet arriving passengers and answer any questions they might have. Martinelli said he hopes to add 15 or 20 more before the summit and wants to find a way to easily identify those who are multilingual and what languages they speak. Martinelli said the airport ambassadors, combined, speak more than a dozen languages.

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